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Linux - Installing simutrans for newbie linux user

Started by maanlicht, October 20, 2015, 10:05:25 AM

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maanlicht

I'm using elementary OS, an Ubuntu flavoured distro.

I 1st got Simutrans from the Ubuntu Software Center and it played well. When I wanted to get the latest version things did not go according to plan. I DL the exe and pakset, unzipped into a new folder and tried to open the game and nothing. From Terminal I changed to the new folder and tried to run the game but it seem to run the old version.

I have done this many many times with different versions an paksets with same results. Arrrggghhh frustrating .... yes.

Sometimes it's missing files of one kind or another or others errors pop up - this has been the same result over many years and many many tries.

I have installed and run different versions in Wine with no problems at all and i can play all the different versions ok.

But under Linux not much joy. Maybe its because I am a newbie to Linux and don't yet understand the file system layout or something.

This has been my biggest concern using Linux - with Window flavours of Simutrans there are complete install packages but not linux. This would be a great help if its at all achievable.

I know I have not given you a detailed description of the errors as this mainly a gripe about the Linux versions but if I could find out what I am doing wrong it would be a great help.

So fire away guys what would you like to know so we can get this annoyance out of my life ....... lol

Thank you all who are helping the forum and the game for continuing to give great pleasure to us.

maan

prissi

Please go to the simutrans folder you unzipped and type on the terminal "./simutrans" By default many distros do not allow to run downloaded programs from your home directory directly.

The other thing is that Linux cannot run 32 bit programs out of the box on a 64 bit OS.

Ters

Quote from: prissi on October 20, 2015, 12:31:43 PM
The other thing is that Linux cannot run 32 bit programs out of the box on a 64 bit OS.

That depends on the box.

Since maanlicht has run another version of Simutrans on the box, one would expect the dependencies to be in place. Maybe Ubuntu provides an unofficial 64-bit build and therefore doesn't have the 32-bit dependencies.

It is impossible to tell if it's dependencies that are missing, or if it's Simutrans not finding parts of itself, without knowing the error message. I don't use Linux for playing Simutrans, but have managed to get it running from a fresh install twice throughout the years, and it wasn't that hard beyond figuring out how to get the 32-bit SDL (and its dependencies, but that came automatically) from the distros package manager (which isn't Ubuntu i my cases). I don't consider myself a Linux novice anymore, though I'm no guru either.

It might be that the other, older Simutrans installation interferes somehow.

isidoro

@maanlicht: if you provide more details of the problems and errors you encounter, we'll be glad to help you.

First, please specify what version of Ubuntu and whether it is 64-bit or 32-bit.  Please type in a shell:
uname -a
and
cat /etc/issue

gwalch

If you understand french language, you can look this discussion :
http://forum.simutrans.com/index.php?topic=9839.0
mEGa did explain what you have to do to run different versions of simutrans on the same ubuntu system. This discussion is quite old now, but it is ok. I can play last version of simutrans with a new computer (< 3 months) with ubuntu 14.04 LTS 64 bits.
French Elements Creator :
-By Rail with trains and trams : X3800 Picasso and BB36000 Astride - trams from Nantes, St Etienne, Strasbourg, Montpellier, Lyon, Bordeaux, Le Mans, Reims...
-By Road with Trucks : Main painter for the "french trucks company", with trucks from 50ies (Willeme "Squale Nose") to 2000 (Renault AE500 "Magnum) and a lot of trailers... and with Trolley and Buses : Irisbus Cristalis, Man Lion's City, Irisbus Magelys...
- Industry : Collaborator for french food with Wine and Cheese...

maanlicht

Hi all, many thanks for all yr replies.

Yes I do have a 64bit system and here is the outcome of what "isidoro" asked:-

$ uname -a
3.2.0-92-generic #131-Ubuntu SMP Tue Oct 20 16:16:02 UTC 2015 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
$ cat /etc/issue
Ubuntu 12.04.5 LTS \n \l

Hope that helps - I understand some of what its saying but not all. Linux newbie learns a bit more lol

Unfortunately I can't remember all the errors and messages after all this time as this has been going on for years of trying, so sorry for that. I had given up in favour of running simutrans under wine - so simple lol

Having read thru all yr replies it could be a bit of both probs that will not allow me to run newer versions of simutrans, thank you prissi.

64bit OS with 32bit program, also running downloads from home folder.

So maybe its time to try installing a new version of Simutrans and pass on the errors I get.

The main reason for posting my original post was to have a little gripe that the Linux version of Simutrans is a lot harder to install and get running compared the the Windows version which is so simple - everything in one package.

I know you guys have to take into account that there are different flavours of Linux and to make a generic package is almost impossible - yes I do understand and you all have my deepest appreciation and respect. Just giving you some feedback from a newbie Linux user. There must be loads of us newbies that luv what linux has to offer but find it frustrating when things don't work out as they are meant to but hey thats life ....

Many thanks guys and I hope I haven't bored you too much lol

maan

Vladki

I'm pretty sure that ubuntu and debian do their own compilation, so they have 32-bit as well as 64-bit packages. But simutrans nightly is only 32-bit. That means that even if you can run the simutrans from the deb package, you probably do not have 32-bit libraries for the nightlies. Try installing the 32-bit deb package to get the necessary dependencies, and then run nightlies. It should be OK to have both versions, deb packages installs the executable to /usr/games/simutrans, and data to /usr/share/games/simutrans. I recommend putting the nightlies to /usr/local/games/simutrans/

Installing 32-bit packages on 64-bit ubuntu is explained here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MultiArch

Octavius

I once installed a newer version than than the default of simutrans on my 'buntu box. I put it, like Vladki suggests, somewhere in /usr/local, which is the place meant for this manually installed stuff. To have your system run the new simutrans instead of the old, you either have to provide the full path to the new executable (don't, this is inconvenient), or make sure it's in your PATH (the environment variable telling where to look for executables). If it's in a directory listed before the one with the old version, the new version will take precedence. You can also rename the new version, if you like. Distros vary in default configuration, but on Ubuntu and most derivatives the new simutrans executable should be found automatically if you put it in /usr/local/bin.

Nowadays I just compile from source.